250 stories from The Kansas City Star
It wasn't so long ago that Dina Thomas and her husband, Mark, 2011 graduates of the University of Missouri-Kansas City's professional actor program, thought they'd stay in Kansas City indefi…
We meet 12 characters in Eric Bogosian's finely crafted series of monologues, "Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll." Collectively, they project a sense of unconscious nihilism. In an impressive producti…
At a certain point during the opening-night performance of Kansas City Repertory Theatre's wild production of "Pippin," I realized that I was witnessing a creative act of madness.
Part of Marilyn Lynch had died until she discovered Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre.
Twelve against one aren't very good odds, unless you happen to be making theater in a strange new way.
Edward Albee can write realism if he chooses, but he seems just as comfortable creating allegories or plays that confirm the label that was applied to him early in his career as a practition…
One thing you can saw about Edward Albee: He never repeats himself and no two plays are alike.
It was a summer wedding, held in a wooded setting in upstate New York, with a crowd of family, friends and well-wishers gathered to lend good karma to the couple at the beginning of their sh…
The American Heartland Theatre's "Making God Laugh" expertly pushes emotional buttons from beginning to end. Even after bracing for a sentimental, life-affirming conclusion, I found myself s…
Allow me to introduce the newest representative of Kansas City Repertory Theatre's youth movement: Chase Brock, who at the age of 29 has already performed and choreographed on Broadway.
Nothing gives your humble theater critic more pleasure than to see actors coming into their own or pushing themselves beyond their comfort zones. You get a little of both in the Unicorn Thea…
"Social Security," a 1986 Broadway comedy that shows its age, becomes a star vehicle for Barbara Eden supported by a strong cast at the New Theatre.
Nothing gives your humble theater critic more pleasure than to see actors coming into their own or pushing themselves beyond their comfort zones.
The actors have a fine time playing the broad gestures and stilted delivery of melodrama in "The Real Inspector Hound." Ultimately, Tom Stoppard's play dissolves into a surrealistic cloud --…
First let me say that I've never quite understood the excitement surrounding "Spring Awakening," a rock musical depicting abused and neglected teens in the late 19th century.
It's rude. It's crude. It's funny and sexy. And it beats with the pulse of real life.
George Hamilton brings a potent dose of star power to "La Cage aux Folles," and he seems to be having a grand old time in the venerable stage musical, which runs through Sunday at Starlight …
The fall theater lineup is, in a word, eclectic. Megamusicals? They're on their way. Sprawling historical epics? One of those is in the pipeline. Hip, contemporary theater? Got it. Revisited…
"The Music Man" rarely fails to engage an audience, even when the material is presented in concert. The Musical Theater Heritage production at Crown Center is a case in point.
At first glance, the numbers didn't make sense. How could the five-county Kansas City area have a larger population than St. Louis County but spend less on the arts? That question jumped out…
It wasn't surprising when the audience Saturday night at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts rewarded Bernadette Peters with a standing ovation because we're famous in KC for our pro…
"The Music Man" rarely falls to engage an audience, even when the material is presented in concert.
Director Ricardo Khan will stage a world premiere based on Kansas City's African-American history as part of the UMKC Theatre's 2012-13 season.
On one level, "The Mousetrap" can be viewed as a museum piece, a reminder of a time when the aesthetics of a "well-made play" dominated the commercial stage. But the beauty of Agatha Christi…
When Bernadette Peters appears in concert Aug. 18 at the Muriel Kauffman Theater, she will at some point cover Peggy Lee's "Fever" while lying on a grand piano. Now if the thought of Peters,…
